BALTIMORE—The UMass Lowell men's lacrosse team (1-7, 1-6 America East) fell in a hard-fought conference battle, dropping a 12-7 decision to the UMBC Retrievers (6-2, 5-2 AE) at UMBC Stadium Saturday afternoon.
 
In his first career start for the River Hawks, freshman Ben Peffer (Newburyport, Mass.) had a day, putting up two goals and collecting two ground balls. Peffer was one of three River Hawks to register a pair of tallies against the Retrievers. Senior Kyle Laforge (Tyngsboro, Mass.) and junior Liam McDonough (Groton, Mass.) also struck twice for the River Hawks this afternoon, with both of McDonough's points coming immediately off a faceoff win.
 
In addition, McDonough had one of his strongest performances at the X this season, winning 10 of the 20 faceoffs he took for the River Hawks this afternoon.
 
"Our guys played hard today. I was pleased with our performance on faceoffs, including two goals by Liam McDonough," said Head Coach Ed Stephenson. "Ben Peffer got his first start today at attack and showed some strong potential with two goals himself."
 
After the Retrievers took the early 1-0 lead, McDonough won the faceoff and took it straight to the cage, netting the make-it-take-it goal and locking the teams at 1-1 just over a minute into the action.
 
UMBC quickly regained its offensive traction, closing out the first period of play with a three-goal run to move to a 4-1 lead.
 
Adding another tally, the Retrievers opened up the second frame with a goal just seconds in, but the River Hawks responded with a three-goal unanswered streak of their own to close in on the UMBC lead. Laforge kicked off the scoring run for the River Hawks, finding the feed from freshman Jake Davis (Franklin, Mass.) and cutting towards the cage to net his first of the afternoon.
 
A save by sophomore Max Christides (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) regained possession for UMass Lowell, before the River Hawks brought the ball down field where sophomore Kyle Love (Farmington Hills, Mich.) connected with Peffer, who shoveled in the ball through the five-hole for his first collegiate goal. McDonough immediately followed up with a quick goal off the faceoff win to bring the River Hawks within one of the Retrievers and cap the scoring run.  
 
With just 3:19 left in the first half, UMBC netted a trio of goals to extend their lead out to 8-4. Scooping up the loose groundball off a deflected shot from Peffer, Laforge ended the first half with his second of the day to send the River Hawks into the half down 8-5.
 
A pair of UMBC goals shattered a seven-minute scoring draught at the top of the third, netting two across two minutes to move to a five-goal advantage. Finding the pass from graduate student Dylan Rhatigan (Holbrook, N.Y.), Peffer found the back of the net once again off the back post to guide momentum back in favor of UMass Lowell. Junior Sean Parker (Flemington, N.J.) then quickly added another for the River Hawks, registering an unassisted goal to move into the final 15 at just a three-goal deficit.
 
Despite eight shots by the River Hawks in the fourth, strong defense by the Retrievers kept UMass Lowell off the board, while UMBC picked up another two goals to end the game with a final score of 12-7.
 
On defense, senior Harry Morrill (Hyde Park, Mass.), junior Eric Flynn (Bedford, N.H.) and Love each picked up a team-high two caused turnovers against the Retrievers. Additionally, Flynn picked up a team-high three ground balls to help lead the River Hawks defensive unit. In the cage, Christides played a full game for UMass Lowell, stopping 13 shots.
 
The River Hawks continue their road trip next weekend, traveling to Connecticut to take on Hartford on Saturday, April 24 at 2 p.m.